Monsters open season with 7-3 loss to Americans
BY ANDREW GUARINO
HOCKEY WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Rochester Americans defeated the Cleveland Monsters 7-3 Friday Evening from the Rocket Mortgage Field House in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the first game of the COVID season for the Monsters. One of the noticeable changes was that intermissions were only 15 minutes instead of 20 and 18. Also, we were missing one linesman for some reason.
Cleveland allowed Rochester some offensive zone time to start the game. The Monsters' starting netminder Brad Thiessen was tested twice in the first 50 seconds of the game. However, it was the Monsters who struck first. Oskari Laaksonen was at the blue line of the Americans' zone where he shot the puck; it was knocked down by the Monsters Ryan Maclnnis, who passed the puck up ice to Nathan Gerbe. He had a breakaway and scored glove side to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead. It was Cleveland's first shot of the game that led to the goal just 1:02 into the first period. Cleveland wasn't done scoring as they added a second goal at 13:23 while on the power play. Trey Fix-Wolansky won a puck battle on top of the Monsters' offensive zone. He passed back to Zac Dalpe who took a shot from the slot and scored.
Cleveland looked really good in the first period. They were fast, physical, and overall just played a good gritty style of hockey needed to win games.
In the second period, the tone changed and Rochester took control. Cleveland once again allowed Rochester to control the opening minute, and, this time, Rochester took advantage as 41 seconds in, they cut the Monsters' lead to one. Brad Thiessen made the initial save on a shot from Mattias Samuelsson, but Thiessen thought the puck was covered when it was actuallylying next to him in the crease where CJ Smith was able to just poke it in. At 5:04, Rochester tied the game when Ryan Jones had the puck on the blue line and passed to Nicholas Welsh, who shot from the right face off dot and scored. Rochester continued to add to their score when at 7:18 they scored their third goal. Mattias Samuelsson took a shot from the blue line; it appeared to be redirected out in front, fooling Brad Thiessen. The goal was credited to Samuelsson.
Cleveland was able to tie the game at 15:29. Cliff Pu won a puck battle and his pass to Dillion Simpson connected. Simpson shot the puck from right above the left face off circle. Rochester answered back while on the power play at 18:07. CJ Smith shot from the left off circle, and it was a rising shot that beat Brad Thiessen glove side.
Rochester got a power play goal 2:23 into the third to make it a 5-3 game. Jean Sebastian Dea entered the Rochester zone with two Monsters defenders in front of him. Dea shot the puck from the slot, beating Thiessen glove side. Brad just kind of missed the puck - there was no traffic in front of him. After this,aggravation set in for Cleveland. Zac Dalpe, the Monsters captain, and Rochester assistant captain Andrew Oglevie dropped the gloves behind the play; it was a good spirited scrap. Shortly after this, Cleveland got a power play and despite not scoring, put together a really solid two minutes. Rochester then added another goal at 15:14 of the third period. Andrew Oglevie beat Thiessen top glove side, making it 6-3. Cleveland had a 5/3 power play for 66 seconds in the last few minutes of the game, but they were not able to score on it. With 1:47 left in the game Rochester scored an empty net short handed goal, scored by Jean Sebastian Dea.
Cleveland had a really strong first period going up 2-0. Unfortunately, they couldn't play that way the whole game.
Cleveland started Brad Thiessen in net; he stopped 27/33 shots faced. Rochester countered with Ukko- Pekka Luukkonen who stopped 43/46 shots faced. The first star went to CJ Smith with two goals and an assist, the second star went to Mattias Samuelsson with a goal and an assist, and the third star went to Zac Dalpe with a goal.
Player to watch. A new segment I will include in my articles where I will pick a player to watch the next game. With only playing one game, it was a tough decision. However, I will pick Ryan Maclnnis. He looked like a completely different player from last year. Maclnnis was very physical, he finished checks, was pushing and shoving, and on top of that, he set up several good plays in the offensive zone and had a chance for himself on the breakaway that he could not take advantage of.
Next up for Cleveland is the Grand Rapid Griffins Saturday afternoon with puck drop scheduled for 4 pm from Rocket Mortgage Field House. It's a quick turnaround for the Monsters, playing a different team less than 24 hours after this game finished. Coach Eaves said, "preparation starts now, with ice baths, and getting the guys home to get a good night sleep." Eaves went on to say that they won't bring the guys to the rink tomorrow super early, but they'll have zoom meetings. Let's look at keys to the game. 1. We can not allow teams to control the pace of play for the first 50 seconds of the period. For both the first and second periods Rochester controlled the first 50 seconds or so. 2. We need to keep guys out of the crease. Cleveland allowed a lot of Rochester guys in and around the crease. 3. We need to take advantage of opportunities. Cleveland had a couple of breakaways and several grade-A opportunities they couldn't take advantage of.
POSTED 02/12/2021 23:10
Lake County Sentinel
